William Saroyan

Author profile

born

August 31, 1908 in Fresno, California, The United States

died

May 18, 1981

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Short Stories

About this author

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William Saroyan was an American - Armenian author. The setting of many of his stories and plays was Fresno, California (sometimes under a fictional name), the center of Armenian-American life in California and where he grew up.
Saroyan was born in Fresno, California to Armenian immigrants from Bitlis, Turkey. At the age of three, after his father's death, Saroyan was placed in the orphanage in Oakland, California, together with his brother and sister, an experience he later described in his writing. Five years later, the family reunited in Fresno, where his mother, Takoohi, secured work at a cannery. He continued his education on his own, supporting himself by taking odd jobs, such as working as an office manager for the San Francisco ...more

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Average rating: 3.97 · 2,429 ratings · 226 reviews · 100 distinct works

	Human Comedy by William Saroyan, Don Freeman (Illustrator), Michael Farmer (Designed by) 3.88 avg rating — 981 ratings — published 1943 — 17 editions	My rating:
	The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze and Other Stories 4.24 avg rating — 245 ratings — published 1934 — 4 editions	My rating:
	My Name Is Aram by William Saroyan, Don Freeman (Illustrator) 4.09 avg rating — 289 ratings — published 1940 — 10 editions	My rating:
	The Time of Your Life 3.68 avg rating — 103 ratings — published 1939 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Tracys Tiger 4.16 avg rating — 162 ratings — published 1951 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Fresno Stories 4.03 avg rating — 71 ratings — published 1994	My rating:
	The William Saroyan Reader by William Saroyan, Aram Saroyan (Editor) 4.44 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 1994	My rating:
	Papa You're Crazy 4.05 avg rating — 58 ratings — published 1957 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Man with the Heart in the Highlands: And Other Stories by William Saroyan, Herb Caen (Introduction) 4.20 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 1989 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Madness in the Family by William Saroyan, Leo Hamalian (Editor) 4.00 avg rating — 49 ratings — 3 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by William Saroyan

“Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”
― William Saroyan

63 people liked it

“In the time of your life, live—so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.

Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are the things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.

Be the inferior of no man, or of any men be superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart. Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness or evil. These, understand. Have no shame in being kindly and gentle but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret.

In the time of your life, live—so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”
― William Saroyan, The Time Of Your Life

47 people liked it

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”
― William Saroyan

tags: children , family , life

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Novella Club: The Name Game	540	54	Sep 06, 2011 06:57pm
The Imprinted Life: Passage to Ararat. Michael J. Arlen	8	10	Sep 10, 2011 09:21am

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William Saroyan

Author profile

combine editionsBooks by William Saroyan

Quotes by William Saroyan

Topics Mentioning This Author

combine editions
Books by William Saroyan